An adventurous Day

Hubby got to join Babycake and I at gymnastics today. We heard that there was horrendous traffic so we left a half hour early. That however was not enough. We spent an hour finding new routes to get to class at our local YMCA. We arrived a half hour late but we still got about 15 mins of tumbling and pictures in. 

Practicing sideways walking on the balance mat.

Spidergirl spidergirl no one climbs like spidergirl!

Babycake did great for coming in so late to class. She really loves tumbling and running around. She caught on fairly quickly to the new stations set around to practice on.




She still needed me to hold her hand through about half the stations but I'm sure she would have mastered them and left me in the dust had she had the whole class time to practice them. Hubby and I are so proud of her and swell with pride  when we see her beam with joy when she completes a task.

Once class was over, coloring pages handed out, and hands were stamped with doggies and ponies, we headed out. Only when we got to the doors, we saw even more cars lined the road outside. We found out traffic was due to an overturned semi covering both southbound lanes on the highway. For some reason the northbound lanes were closed as well. So we decided to stay at the Y and let Babycake play in the indoor playground another 30 mins. We then grabbed some juice and chips for her afternoon snack to enjoy on the ride home and headed out.

Again we spent an hour detouring multiple roads in attempt to get home. Finally, at five miles from home I called it. "We're having McDonalds for dinner." We pulled over, ordered dinner, attempted to convince Babycake to eat, and then enjoyed watching her climb the mountainous playplace. Fifteen minutes into her play Babycake climbs out whispering "poopy." One of the few words no parent wants to hear their potty training child say in a play area. Especially, when we had been in such a rush to beat the traffic that we forgot to grab her bag of extra clothes on the way out of the house 3 hours ago. So I grab her and rush to the restroom trying to convince myself that what she was meaning was that she needs to poop and not that she had just done the deed in her only pair of pants we had available. (insert sad/evil laugh only parents know how to make) Why was I trying to kid myself?

Needless to say hubby's first gymnastics day was an adventurous one; ending with our poop cover, peed soaked, tired toddler crying that it was her turn to latch the car seat buckles when we climbed back into the car for a 5 min ride home. I'm not sure he'll want to go again.  ;-)

Babycake's Favorite Author

When I was pregnant and registering for all the new baby items we would be needing, I was thrilled to be able to register for some of my favorite books while growing up. The list of course included The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

Well we didn't get all the books we registered for but I was very pleased to receive Eric Carle's Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? slide and revile board book. I was also happy when this became Babycake's favorite book, and stayed her favorite for over a year. I credit her quick learning of animals and colors to our constant reading of this book.

Recently we celebrated Babycake's 2nd birthday and she received Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar board book as a gift from a friend, as well as E.C's Head to Toe board book and some Curious George books. Babycake still loves her Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? but that has been replaced with The Very Hungry Caterpillar for number one must read every nap time, bed time, and any other reading time.

Babycake does loves to do all the moves the animals do in Head to Toe. She laughs while shrugging her shoulders like a buffalo, thumping her chest like a gorilla, and kicking like a donkey. We have a few other Eric Carle books and she enjoys them all.

Babycake is a huge Curious George fan so we also enjoy all of our Curious George books. I personally have found our Sandra Boynton books to be the most entertaining for me. Boynton does a great job making the stories fun and educational for the child while humorous for the adult as well. We are so thankful to all our family and friends who have filled our library with these wonderful stories.

If you've got a little one I highly suggest these authors. They're entertaining for both parent and child. Win-win!

Letter of the Week Lesson Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog and even longer since I did my exciting new lessons with Babycake. As with most projects it was exciting and new and fun at the beginning, but then we had an irregular week, Babycake stayed out of town with grandparents, and life got busy. So I let my plans slide for a bit, and then a while, and now its been over a month,.. actually I really don't know what week it was that we last had planned/structured activities.

Of course we still read regularly, sing the ABC's and practice counting throughout our days, but it was so fun when we did a lesson everyday that related to a subject that continued to pop up throughout the week. I could really see the connections being made and the swiftness with which Babycake would learn a new letter. So I've committed to getting back on track. I've already made plans all the way through week Ii and we are only starting back up with Dd. (I obviously got far with this new phase) Wish us luck this time around lasts longer!

Finished crafts/activities from Weeks Bb and Cc.

Bat, Banana tree, Bumble Bee,
Butterfly, and Bus

Cast mask, Curious George,
and Caterpillar

Cc Week Cat masks with friends...
in a big box b/c big boxes are the most fun for cats and kids.

Bright Beginnings

School is now in session in our home. Children are constantly learning, so singing the ABC's, reading letter and number books, and pointing out letters or counting while playing is of course educating, but I wanted to start a more structured form of learning that could build on top of each lesson. So while perusing my favorite recourse site (do I even need to say Pinterest at this point?)I found this great site No Time For Flashcards by Allison McDonald. For someone who wants to start teaching little ones but doesn't know where exactly to start this is the perfect site for them. I've worked in day cares, religious ed classes, and elementary schools so the concept of teaching and lesson planning wasn't foreign to me. However, I've never taught a one-two year old in a "school" setting. As advertised, No Time For Flashcards is all about early education and creative play. Allison provides so many brilliant ideas and resources.

So with this new guidance I've started planning and doing mini lessons for each week. I've decided to start with the alphabet. So each week we focus on one letter. We've done three letters so far and Babycake and I have been having a lot of fun with it. 

For "Aa Week" I got as many books about the alphabet from the library as I could find. Like I mentioned, the youngest child I'd taught in an educational setting was five. So it makes sense that only about half of the books were a success with my toddler. (this is a learning experience for both of us)

Here is the list of the four books that Babycake enjoyed reading:

Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. This is a great picture book of fruit and veggies listed in alphabetical order. It is very colorful and eye catching.

ABC Safari. This book is great for kids who love animals. One animal is listed for each letter. I really like this book b/c it lists animals but also gives a short poem for each animal.

Curious George Learns the Alphabet. Babycake loves Curious George. This book does have a lot of wording and is a bit long so it might not be as interesting to most toddlers. However b/c it is Curious George, her favorite, Babycake happily sits and listens.

Apples A to Z. The perfect alphabet book for Aa week! This book is great for toddlers and older children because it provides one simple sentence that matches the picture and letter for each page, but also gives a short paragraph description. 

So for each day we add the books when we sit down to read (there's no set reading time, Babycake loves books so we'll read at different times throughout the day) and do one craft or activity that coincides with the week's lesson.

For activities we glued apples to an apple tree (glue is super exciting for a one year old), colored a lowercase A to make it an apple, hunted for acorns in the yard, made an Angle, and made an Alligator. Here are the finished products:

What Can Be Done While The Toddler's Away

Yesterday we dropped Babycake off with her grandma and grandpa for a four day weekend. As we drove away I felt like I was missing something and was a bit sad. We got home, stayed up until midnight watching movies (b/c we could actually sleep in!), and left her a video message to wake to in the morning.
When I awoke today, I was filled with excitement and vigor. Today we had a major project. We re-landscaped. I have hated the landscape of our house from the day we first saw the house let alone bought it. Today we didn't have a child to watch to make sure she didn't touch anything that could hurt her, that she didn't run into the road, that she didn't eat anything she shouldn't. Today, we could get all the work done with no worry of what our child might be doing. What an amazing feeling! Here is our work in photos. It looks so good!!!!! :-)

The back of the house. Flower bulbs are already planted and just waiting to bloom.
I forgot to take a pic of what it looked like before we put in mulch and the stone boarder. Oops! Oh well.

The side of the house  was bare with a few flowers planted.
We added the stones before I started taking "before pictures."

After with mulch. Flower bulbs planted and waiting to bloom!

Front of the house before.

Hubby, "Are you really taking a picture of this?"
Me, "Yes! This is exciting and you are rocking your new chainsaw!"

There goes the first limbs!!!!!

Bye bye ugly bushes!

All clear!

Arranging the plants before planting.

Just a reminder this is what it did look like. :-P

The finished product! Isn't it beautiful?!!

We still have a lot of clean up to do, but while hubby is at work, I'll be home taking care of it b/c you know what, Babycake will still be gone, and I won't have to worry about her. :-)

Bathtub Learning Fun

This last week we started "school" in this household. Now when I say school, what I really mean is that I've started planning learning themes for each week. For the next few months we'll be doing 'The Letter of the Week.' Last week we did 'Aa.' Really all we do is one craft or activity a day that features the letter, and then through out the day add a book here or there that discusses the alphabet.

So far it's been really great. We've done a craft/activity everyday. Babycake loves to learn and loves activities and crafts. For her, this isn't school, or work, or a hassle. This is a fun play time with Mommy.

Her artwork featuring the letter Aa

It wasn't until bath time tonight that I realized I'd already made an activity that I wasn't using. A while ago I was perusing Pinterest (I know. I have a problem) and I found a really fun post. A woman got foam dots at the dollar store and let her kids play with them in the bath. The foam sticks to the walls. She used the activity for the kids to focus on finding colors. I however, had been thinking about purchasing a bathtub alphabet set for Babycake to play with and decided to make my own instead!

The foam dots come in a pack of like 20. I bought two packs ($2 wohoo!), brought them home, did my best bubble letters, and cut them out. For months Babycake has been playing with the letters in the tub. I only realized this could be part of our 'Letter of the Week' lessons when she started singing the alphabet while sticking her letters to the tub wall tonight. Of course she can't pronounce half of the letters while singing, and she names them all incorrectly when looking at them, but she's having fun and soaking it all in.

It melts my heart to hear her sing the alphabet. It's strange to say that, I never thought that song would mean anything, but when she sings it I can't do a thing but smile. I am so happy she loves learning and I can feed her hungry little mind. I am one proud momma.

Toddler Leggings

So, we're still in the potty training process. That means Babycake is still wearing the little leggings I made for her a while ago. In order to ensure no accidents when we're home, Babycake goes pant-less. Since it's still below freezing out I don't want her to get cold, so she wears socks/slippers and leggings for easy access to the potty while staying warm.

Since Babycake is not yet 2, she really loves these leggings because she can "dress" herself. She likes to pick out which pair she will wear that day and proceeds to tell me "no" when I attempt to help her put them on.

Babycake looks awesome in the leggings. My husband says she looks like she's ready for Flash Dance. At the moment they are slightly too wide for her skinny legs and stay on best with slippers. They are also a bit long for her right now; they start above her knees and end below the ankle. One way to fix the width and length "problems" would be to roll the leggings. I've tried, but being a toddler means constantly running, rolling, and moving in general. The rolls/folds usually come undone. I don't see the extra length and width as a problem though because she will be able to wear the leggings for a couple years.

The pattern for the leggings is super easy. That's what made them appealing to me. I think that even though there isn't any fancy pattern or add-ons, they look good and can be matched with multiple tops. I got the pattern from Corina Gray's website Stitch.